The Truth About Car Colors

[BABY1]

TweetHenry Ford certainly made things easy when he stipulated that customers for his rugged Model T could have any color they wanted, so long as it was black. Today’s car buyer faces a vastly more complicated decision-making process when choosing the paintjob for his or her new vehicle.


There’s no way of knowing whether Mr. Ford would have approved of the eight colors currently available with the 2011 Fiesta SE subcompact sedan. Our guess is “Tuxedo Black” might have won his approval—although “Lime Squeeze Metallic” would probably have cost someone his job.


Things only get more complex the higher up the automotive food chain you go. The $330,000 Bentley Mulsanne luxury sedan is available in more than 100 exterior shades. Customers can also order a customized color, should they so desire. During this year’s New York Auto Show, a Bentley representative described the company’s recent efforts to color-match everything from 1950s kitchenware to gowns worn by royalty.


We’re here to present today’s most popular car colors, some dos and don’ts when it comes to choosing a paintjob, and a peek at the hottest colors coming in the future. Along the way—aided by science and industry experts – we’ll attempt to debunk a few common myths related to car color.


Can you be charged higher insurance rates for a car with a bright paintjob? Do police really prefer ticketing red cars? Keep reading to find out…


Do insurance companies charge higher rates for bright colors?

It sounds silly, but the idea of paying higher insurance rates for a brightly colored car has been around for years. Let’s finally put it to rest. It’s not true and, according to insurance industry experts, it never has been.


“I’ve never heard of a company that does” charge more for a certain color, says Jeanne Salvatore, Senior Vice President Public Affairs at the Insurance Information Institute. “They’re looking at theft records and safety records…make and model, and expense to repair.”


“It’s a myth,” says Luz Correa, Public Affairs Specialist for State Farm Insurance in Metro New York. “[Car color] is not something that goes into a rate.”


What are the most popular car colors?

“The most popular color in North America for the past three years is white,” says Nancy Lockhart, Color Marketing Manager for DuPont Vehicle Paints. “We’ve also seen that, globally, black has gained in popularity.” Lockhart credits growing consumer interest in metallic and pearl-coat finishes with boosting the appeal of these two colors.


According to DuPont’s annual “Color Popularity Report,” silver remains the most popular choice worldwide. However, more shocking colors are making inroads. “We’re seeing a rise in purple globally,” says Lockhart. “Orange has also been a color space that has really taken notice the last five years.”


1970 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda 2D

Emerging markets like China and India will soon influence car color palettes here in North America. Michelle Killen, Exterior Color Designer for General Motors, predicts a distinctly rose-tinted future. “A trend that is starting to make its way here from China is the use of "pink" or "fuchsia," says Killen. “You are going to start seeing this used more in North American and European markets.”


Killen says she relies on “everything” when studying the next must-have colors. “I use fashion for the "what's hot right now" and for longer term or further into the future I like to use trend sites.” Furniture, product design and architecture all influence the colors GM offers, says Killen. “We are still seeing orange as a "hot" color space. Orange has really become a staple in exterior paint design.”


Can color add or detract from a car’s value?

The simple answer is yes, especially if you plan on holding onto your car long enough for it to attain classic status. “Everybody talks about Resale Red,” says Mike Fairbairn, a founding partner at RM Auctions Inc. Red is perennially popular with buyers but, according to Fairbairn, not all colors are so lucky. “The other conventional wisdom is that you can’t sell green.”


Fairbairn advises owners—specifically those in the classic car world—to think carefully when choosing a color. “Choose a period color that people would consider iconic for that model.” A color should also apply to the type of car, with darker hues working well with formal luxury vehicles like a vintage Rolls-Royce.


For some makes and models, color can add enormous value. When it comes to 1960s-era muscle cars, Fairbairn says the whole vehicle is valued according to what color it was when it left the factory. “God help you if it was hideous green,” says Fairbairn with a chuckle. Whether the owner likes it or not, the car is more valuable in an unattractive but entirely original color scheme.


2010 Dodge Challenger R/T & Dodge Challenger SRT8

Fairbairn explains that buyers of certain classic Chrysler muscle cars, for example, will pay up to “one third more” for cars finished in wacky period colors like “Plum Crazy” purple. No wonder Chrysler brought back some of these lurid hues for its modern lineup of vehicles, including the Challenger coupe.


“Chrysler understands that there’s a strong emotional bond drivers can have with their cars, and color takes that feeling and personalizes it,” says Jim Parker, Head of Chrysler’s Exterior Color & Trim Studio. “Think about it; the color of a car can really make or break a great design.”


“When we developed the new Challenger tribute colors, we went back in our archives and found the original color standards that were developed in the late-60s for these wild colors,” says Parker. These Challenger tribute colors have included “TorRed,” “B5 Blue” and, of course, “Plum Crazy.”


“We're topping off the 2010 model year now by introducing a limited run of new Furious Fuchsia, a tribute to the outrageous 70’s color Panther Pink,” says Parker.


Do certain colors attract police?

In today’s era of radar and laser detectors—not to mention soulless speed cameras—the easy answer is no. Most police officers will explain that if you’re speeding, you’re going to be pulled over no matter the color of your car. But could law enforcement subconsciously be focusing on brighter colors, and red in particular?


They might be, at least based on research conducted by Dr. Mark Changizi, professor of Human Cognition at 2AI Labs. An evolutionary neurobiologist, Changizi’s online biography details his studies as a means to “grasp the ultimate foundations underlying why we think, feel and see as we do.”


2010 Ferrari 458 Italia

According to his studies of primates, our eyes have evolved to detect subtle changes in blood oxygenation. In layman’s terms: we notice pigment changes when, for example, someone turns red with anger or pale with fright. “It’s all about emotions,” says Changizi. “Our eyes are designed to see these color changes.” Primates with less fur on their face and rump (such as baboons and chimps) can detect these pigment shifts.


Different emotional states depend on how oxygenated your blood is. “Red is a symbol of strength physiologically,” says Changizi, while mentioning recent studies that have proven wearing red sportswear leads to a higher probability of winning. Changizi says cultural factors also play an important role. Think about a red car, and chances are good a low-slung Ferrari or Corvette springs to mind.


Millions of years of evolution, along with some clever marketing, means that brighter colors (especially reds) could simply be hard-wired in our minds as being powerful, fast and strong. Just don’t try to wiggle your way out of a speeding ticket by telling a cop he was genetically programmed to ticket your little red sports car.

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Tweet

Henry Ford certainly made things easy when he stipulated that customers for his rugged Model T could have any color they wanted, so long as it was black. Today’s car buyer faces a vastly more complicated decision-making process when choosing the paintjob for his or her new vehicle.


There’s no way of knowing whether Mr. Ford would have approved of the eight colors currently available with the 2011 Fiesta SE subcompact sedan. Our guess is “Tuxedo Black” might have won his approval—although “Lime Squeeze Metallic” would probably have cost someone his job.

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I love that quote from Henry Ford. hence the F-150 in black.

[Dzone]

TweetI remember that Henry Ford quote in the movie "Seabiscuit", my favorite movie...my Yukon is brown...I didnt choose brown, it was just the color of the one I liked so I settled for it..lol

[jipped genes]

Tweetmy car is torrid red and never had a prob

[daved150]

Tweetyea...i got the black f150 too hp, lol.

thats kinda odd...we've been told at ford for years that the most populer color sold, not just ford, was silver...and it seems that there is alot of silver out there. maybe that never counted fleet sales...like DTE or edison or whatever....

and i know for a fact that color exxefcts value!!! go find a 2004 f150 fx4 in compitions yellow (the only year that color was avail on the f150) and see what you have to pay for one compaired to another, comp truck, with the same equip and miles in ANY other color.....that yellow is worth 1500 MINIMUM!!!! and maybe 3 or 4g's